‘The Strangers 2: Prey at Night’ Trailer: Those Creepy Masked Jerks Are Back

Not long after The Strangers was released back in 2008, a sequel to Bryan Bertino’s insanely effective horror thriller was put in development. Almost 10 years later, and the first trailer for that sequel has finally arrived — and it handily diminishes some of our skepticism about the follow-up, which Bertino does not appear to be involved with whatsoever (aside from an original screenplay credit). Instead, the sequel was directed by Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down) and written by Ben Ketai (The Forest).

That’s not the most promising development, but damned if this trailer isn’t entertaining; mostly thanks to the darkly comedic inclusion of Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now.” Christina Hendricks, Bailee Madison and Martin Henderson star in Prey at Night, which moves the stalker-y, slasher-y action to a mobile home park, where a family’s vacation is horrifically interrupted by the titular masked strangers.

Still, I remain skeptical about The Strangers 2 — the title isn’t great, and the eponymous antagonists seem a little less mysterious and a little more talkative this time around. Part of what made Bertino’s original film work was that the killers were so elusive and near-supernatural in their stalking; the way they silently appeared in the background of scenes was chilling. But they were also terrifying because they had clearly planned out their attack very carefully, anticipating their victims’ moves and displaying an eerie knowledge of the layout of their home and its surroundings.

On the plus side, it looks as though Roberts and Ketai may have taken a little more inspiration from the story that partially inspired Bertino’s film — the Keddie murders, which took place at a cabin resort in California and remain unsolved. I encourage you to read about them…but maybe during the daytime.